One held the larger grooved stick steady on top of the tender. The second Aborigine rotated the pointed stick back and forth between the palms of his hands. He started at the top of the stick and applied as much downward pressure as he could while rotated it back and forth. His hands quickly slide down to the bottom of the stick but then the third Aborigine jumped in and started at the top of the stick. By taking turns, they were able to maintain continuous pressure and rotation on the pointed stick.
After a minute the contact point between the two sticks began to turn black and smoke. After another minute several extremely tiny glowing embers generated at the friction point began to fall down the groove onto the dry tender below. As soon as the tender started smoking they stopped and one of them quickly grabbed up the barely smoking tender. He cupped it between his hands and blew on it over and over. After each breath, more and more smoke appeared as he nursed the tiny ember. After about another minute, the tender burst into flames. In just three minutes, they had fire.
Of course there is a lot more to this story. Many variations to this technique are possible. What kind of wood they used for the two sticks or where they got the tender. In the demonstration I watched, the tender was some type of dry plant fiber but I have read that even dried animal dung could be used. This would vary by the best materials available to the Aborigines in different parts of the country. Each tribe was expert at using what nature provided.
In the picture (see page 1) Each part is clearly visible as it is used. The end of the larger stick is tapered to get a watertight fit with the cover during storage. The small waterproof cover is visible lying on the ground at the bottom of the picture. Hundreds of small red seeds were pressed onto the waterproof coating for decoration. When the fire making kit was not in use, this red cover on the end of the two sticks make it look like a giant modern wooden match.